LETTERS 



to 



ALEXANDER HAMILr'ON^ 




-Zl^DEFAN-r SECRETARV of the TREASURY 

OF THS 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 

INSPECTOR-GENERAL of the STANDING ARMIE^ 

THEREOF, 

COUNSELLOR AT LAW. 
&c. &c. &c. 

iSeing intended as a reply to A scandaloits PAJipntET 

lately publifhed urtder the fanc^iori, as it is pre- 

fumed, of Mr. Harhiltori, 'and figrted with 

the figndture of JtiNiUs pHiLaNus. 



CITIZEN Ot THE troRLOi 



By TOM CALLENDER, Esd, 



— New-York : — > 
Printed by Richard Reynolds, No, 27^DF.Y-STREEt; 



3S03. 



*A 



E^33l 



r- 



^ jyi-^i.'^ 



\ 

LETTER THE FIRST. 



TO 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 



New-York,' Nov. iSoz". 
" MENE MENE, TEKEL UPHARSIN," 

DAN. V. 25. 

XVX^" ^"^^^ ii^TOM, for you are no more com- 
piander in chief of. the Pittfburgh army, the mottq 
quoted above from a good old book, although it may 
not at present be cxaclly applicable to you, or your 
former friend Mr. Adams, vt^as once the very game 
you both played ! Start not. Sir ! your nerves are 
flyong and able to bear up a gi-eat weight of any kind. 
You have difavowed being the patron of the licen-^' 
tiousnefs of the prefs, and yet you have made more 
l^fe of that Injirumentality to carry On intrigues 
againft the peace and happinefs of the people than 
any other man in America \ 

The pamphlet just published under the fignature 
of Junius Phil^nus, althou^'-h it mav have 
been written by fome of the young fry belo; ging to. 
the Bar, who are either your worshippers or flaves ; 

Sieverthclefs bears fuch evident fymbols of your pa- 

'. Az 



4 LETTERS TO 

tronage that it is impossible for &n^ man of cotti- 
mon experience, not to fee "the mark of the beasJ; 
on i^s forcheaij.'-'— The amanucnfisj is too con'empti- 
blc a creature for me to purfue, I therefore addrefs, 
myfelf to the principal and father of the bantling,—-, 
not fo i*,uch'on account of any. injury that thai filthy. 
Tcrcupniade could evex pi;oduce to the prefent peace- 
able adminlftration, becaufe it is a weak and filly 
performance^ whi'cli muft defeat its own purpofe ; 
not on, account of any any injury you or thp Jerfy- 
Jovc, the a,roftate Luthev Martin, the vulgar Pick- 
erings and Wolcotts, the Harpooners, Burrs or 
Brutuses, Sic. could effect. None of tlipfo rea- 
fons or fears have operated upon me, to provoke me 
into rt-venge againll any of the whole corps of ye. 
It is the diilurbance which ye are continually ralfing 
Vip a^ainft' the public ti-anquillity ! — I am happy that 
■ue now all Irye at peace in this country and that 
vciQn of weaUh are well fecured in their property, 
•without having recouvfe to the blood' thirfty plans 
of burning villages,, as it is reported, you had de^ 
clarcd. and I believe ij'ith great trrth, you would have 
put into, operation, if you coukl only have provoked 
any of the infurgents to Ihoot a fingle man of the 
militia'or volunteers who marched O'U, in my opi- 
nion, with the utmofb honor and fpirit, to quell an 
innovation againil the laws of tlie United States,, 
tiut never, Cih never, had they coMcclivcly any fuch. 
hosrid idea as that cf flaininj their hands in the. 
j^looJ of their feilQv,--ciii2eiis >vithout difciinr.in^- 



ALEXANDER HAMILT01>T 5 

t'lon ! — I have been told of this your declaration, ^o 
often that I was almoft convinced it was true. But 
let me here declare to you, that, at this day I havei 
ftrong doubts of its veracity, and I wifh you could 
dehy it unequivocally — that you frefumed to take a •vcixf 
like' Hannibal, *«They (your confidants^ fliould 
cither fee you returning at the head of a triumphant 
army or fee you without a head !" I don't know be- 
fore what altar you could have made fo defperate an 
oath ?— Nor am I iaclined to give it credence, be- 
caufe I am not, nor ever have been, your perional 
enemy. If, however, in the refult it Oiould appearj 
that you really did ufe fucb an exj^reffion ; there will 
remain little doubt in miy mind, of your having 
« foftefed," in the language of your friend Afrnodeus 
of Murrifania, an hope, of what ? of crufhiag dov/ri 
the fpirit of republicanifm by force of' arms ! 
The God of nature was difgufted with the brutal 
purpofc, and although you have enlifted a few re- 
fpectable gentlemen of die pulpit to write in favor of 
your fyftems — thofe defendcrN of your faith will 
foon forfake you. — Let them look at my motto — let 
them read over the fourth and fifth chapters of Daniel—- 
ajud confefe that they are very applicable to yours 
and John Adama's adfr.i,nlih'ations, for we know, 
tl^iat the great and good Waflnngton was liable to be 
impofed on by both of ye ; let thofe political preach-- 
crs confider the fate of Beltesh azz ar, and there 
confefs whether the death he brought upon bim-^^ 
felf was not jufl j^^d inerciadj confideiir,^ the 



Jf i:etters to 

crimes he had committed ! His fall was fudden andf 
great — and fo has been the fall of the Monarchical 
party in the United States. They attempted to fet 
us all at war with one another. To tax us as cruel- 
ly as the Jews were by the Egyptians? to put 
gags in our moutjis, fo that we dared not to open 
©ur lips in the War-Office or Treafury, or Cuftom- 
Houfes of America ! leaft fome half a do5:en up- 
ftart clerks and, informers fhould bear falfe wit- 
nefs again ft us and bring us up to the , buU-ring 
jpf perfecution. 

Those were hard times* Mr. Hamilton? and 
although perhaps you did not directly fanction fuch 
illiberality ; I have feen you fmiling with pleafurc> 
at the heart-fcalding efFe6ts it produced ; even 
^mongft fome of your own qld friends and compa-< 
ritots in war. How could you fmile at the honeft 
complaints of a good old whig ? — I fhall never allow 
any man in my prefence to fay that you are dif- 
honeft; but furely you have expofed yourfelf, as 
being the monument thiit enclofed a living fpirit 
of dcftru6lion to the weahh and profperity of all 
j^merica. 

This may appear to fome of your friends, to^ 
■^e rather an harfh cxpreffion, yet tt is my inten- 
tion to endeavour to prove it to be founded, 
in truthj as I -^ expeSi" io do, in the phrofe of onci, 
of your fatellites (Wolcott) in the courfe cf thi^ 
Corrcfpondencc. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON "f- 

*rHE fchifm that has been attempted to be fet 
on foot by the Vice-Prefident> amongfl: the repub- 
licans, is a thing totally beneath my notice, be- 
Caufe it will die and rot of its own corruptionj 
and we fliall have no more of thofe cloudy days 

ft 

of terror which difgraced the late adminlftration, biit 
ftill I can not fufFer myfelf to believe that you' 
could proftitute your talents to fanftion that dif- 
gracefu! fyftem. You certainly muft have a proper 
reflect for the character that is to be eftimated of 
you by the children of futurity. But the fchifm aU- 
tempted by Burr, although it is defpicable in my. 
feycs, ds is the founders of it — ftiil leaves a doubt 
behind, that you either know fomething of its origin, 
6r, after a time, you muft have fufFered yourfelf to 
approve of the plot — I hope not. — It is for reafons like 
thefe, and they are far from chimerical ; that lam 
obliged to view you iu the light of a very defperate 
and dangerous enemy to fociety, although I am ready 
to join in the general approbation of your valuable 
abilities, and your abjfemioufnefs from all pecuniary 
confiderations and all other fublunary things ! 

I DO not riiean to hurt your private feelings, but 
tnly to make fome general obfervations upon your 
political career, from its Alpha to its Otnega, whith t" 
think muft now be faft approaching;, from your con-- 
nection with fo fcurrilous a wretch as he who could- 
Lave penned the .pamphlet fubfcribed by m after Juni- 
ns ThilamiSt whofe iiifolence is equal to his igno-v 
3'ance, whofc connection with you muft be difgracefu^ 



R LETTERS TO 

s— -whofe Billlngrgate ftylc is lo^ye^ than even the brutdl 
teritifh-Porcupihe — But he fliall be dilTeCted in my 
next letter, or fome other leuer in this feriesj whjch 
1 have fat down to. write for no othet rea Ton than 
the. defence of truth? honor, virtue, and real patri- 
Otifm; unfophifticated patriotirm.— Unlike your com- 
plicated fchemes. — TJniike Adams's dreams. — Unlike 
Duer's financial operations, M'hich yCHi had the 
fol'y to father; 

The very lengthy introdu(^ory-apo!ogy w^hich 
prefaces mailer Phila;nus's pamphlet, was not, — no, 
iiever, written bv the fame hand that afterwards finks 
ihto the loweft filth of fwcep-chimney's dialeil. — 
ills deijut, however, is perhaps intended to fliew 
us that he is a /port/man, by the ufe of the word. 
<< Bevy of hungry expectants." Of which number, 
he varus in Yankee phrafe, that he's not one, he. 
himfeif — who has -taken up fo ftiany pag^s to define, 
his own excellence — he never W2.s an expe61arit for any 
officcj nor would he accept of one were it lO be: 
offered to him, let it be ever (a lucrative ?—/Vs well ■ 
might Oliver Wolcott pubiilli to thfe world the bare-, 
faced affcrtion, that he himfeif was the entire and 
fole author of a lame defence, lately publifli^d, of 
the late admlrt'iftration ; — or have the effrontery to 
fell the people of (he United Sates, that he did not 
cOme to New-York to get if correcled and amendeci, 
by the centre f^ugel-nian of all mifchief, — who is ftiU 
ihe rallying point for the out-cafts of republicanifm — 



^hdfc meetings, Cacuffes, plots, snd ftratr.gems, 
are ftot fo fecret as the junto may vainly imagine. 

Their frequent intrigues at Mew-York wil;? iicver 
be coriftrued ihto innocent vifits of private friend- 
JQiip. — The Jerfey-Jo'Oe's races through the three mid- 
dle ftales are not all probably iotehded ^s vifits of 
perfonal refpeil to the fallen angels of ian intended 
Voyal ftandard — neither did Luther Martin, arid many- 
others whota I may probably make mention of hcre- 
sifter, all come here to New -York for nothing ?— 
jtave not you Mr. Etamiltoii, expreffed yourfelf ixi 
a very treaionable llyle at the tovrn-meetings amongft 
the Cartmen or the Shoe-makers — fomething about 
dictating to tlic Prefideilt of the United States what- 
ever laws and regulations you pleafed ? By whafc 
means ? B5' ftirring up i fort of rebellion in the 
feaftern flates I 

Shall wc not have the freedom of elecllon al- 
lowed us to choofe a good and virtuous man for our 
Prefident ? — Would you and Dayton have dragoofled 
iis out of our right of fjulfrage ? — You have always 
Jirrogated too much dominion to yourfelf, over 
the minds of men. — You were not pleafed v/idr ihc 
iksFiREi) Washington, for I will call him fuch, 
for our commander in chief. You faid, as I was tolj, 
fitom the lips of General Malcom, «* that Wafhing- 
ton was totally unequal to the tafk of commanding 
the revolutionary armies ; arid that there was none of 
the oncers excepting General Greene, qualified io-t 
Aat duty." Sir — no man will <i(tn.y the great an«l , 



JC^ LETTERS TO 

jnoble virtues of your favolRite ; but, when yt)^ 
prefumed to depreciate the talents of die virtuous 
hero of his country, you added no laurels to the 
brows of Greene : — all-hallowed be the memory 
of each of them. 

As to your own merits and fervices* they would 
have been handed down to pofterity with their juft 
approbation had you ftuck by the good old caufe of 
repubiicanifm, but when we faw you fo foon after 
the revolution fhooting yourfelf like a tangent into the 
atmofphere of monarchy, and attempting to impofe it 
on the people under falfe colours — by calling it fede- 
ralifm when you knew very well it was no more than 
a ftcpping ftone toward tyranny — ^v hen we confidered 
all the dark intrigues and deep-laid plots of your par- 
ty flowing on fo fafl, like a tide of deftruftion, to 
overwhelm, us ! — it was then high time to ilem the 
torrent, and it has happily been efFeiled — by. the re- 
moval of you and your dangerous army of informers^ 
fpeculators, and dragooners of the people, from the 
liigh ftations ye held over the affairs of this now hap- 
py country, which jiever was fccured before in the 
bleihngs of peace and good government. That you 
all have acknowledged the federal conftitution to be 
no more than a fliam to introduce a monarchy, is well 
hnown by the various fpeeches and eilays of Mr. 
Adams and many others and even by the young con- 
fidant, Fenno> who publifhed his mar-plot pamphlet 
entitled *' desvltoky observations," on tlie 
affairs of the Unite J States. , 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON". ji 

The fall which your party has experienced was 
therefore no more than you deferved, and I believe as 
juftly inliieled on ye, as the puniiliment of Beltelliaz- 
zer, as mentioned in my motto. The people are at 
length fatisfied with the tranquility and profperity 
that furrounds them, they can Deep in peace without 
feeing terrified with the fliouts of warriors. — They arc 
not betrayed by fpies—they enjoy the light of heaven 
■without being infulted and imprifoned by excife-men— 
(hey can tranfa6l their commercial and other relations 
without going to a flamp-office Sec. But you will not 
permit us to live in this tranquility and happinefs. 
— The difbanded few, who have lolt their confe- 
quence, are cverlaftingly trumping up fome infamous 
falfehood in the news-papers, in pamphlets and in 
treafonable night Caucujfes, which it is certain are fre- 
quently held in N^w-York, and in the manaf^ement 
of which focietics, it is ftrongly fufpeclcd vou arc a 
principal. The pamphlet now before me, of Junius 
Philanusy is a handfome fpecimen of the malignity of 
the men who encouraged its publication, and if yoii 
Sir, were of the number it will never redound to your 
fame or character. The world has never yet heard 
from Mr. Jefferfon, the real caufes of many of the 
removals he has been obliged to make. It was lord 
chief julVice Mansfield's opinion that a man at the 
head of a public office fliould never give his reafons 
for tlie removal of thofe who fhould render them- 
felves deferving of it — and who knows M-hat proofs, 
what complaints, what letters and ilrong vouchers. 



^2 LETTERS. TO 

may have been laid before Mr. JefFerfon, of the Hi 
condu6t of many cf thofe who have loft the confidence 
pt the adminiitration — Yet xhey will not reft quiet 
under their imaginary difgr^ce, but for ever keep up a 
fjr:- of ilander againft him. It would be better for 
thv'lr own fakes they would be filent> as, if the Prelim 
dent (liould be urged tq publifh the reafons of fomt 
of their removals, it would, perhaps, only add to 
their ciiagrin — better for them to remain contented 
with the iimple punifhment of removal, than have the 
complicated difgracc of their chara61ers bein^ alfo. 
expofcd- There never was fo great a crowd of public 
ofiiices filled by men who were every one immaculate! — 
Humanity is liable to error. The countenance and 
support which, I am convinced, you give to the 
EvENi?fG Post, and to moll of the same descrip- 
tion of scandalous prints, as well as the encourage- 
ment to sueh reptiles as 'Junius Phil^fnuSi is so drsr 
gusting to the true friends of America, that you have 
drawn down their indignation upo.n yourfclf. Yon 
have dererled the caufe of genuine republicanifm, and 
iicd to the ftandcrd of Aristocracy. You held a pcfl| 
of high rank among the Duke of Braintree's well-* 
EORS Tons, ur;til you were almoft alhamed of it aa4 
bim. Your letter, addr.efled to hiin, is fufficient fctF 
pie to believe that you moft heartily defpifed him.-^ 
But, your enmity againfl the prefent Adminiftration^ 
proceeds from Very different motives. You do not-— 
rou cannot look with the fame degree of contempt 
on the abiliues and virtues of Mr. Je f f e r son with 
•vvhich you viewed die vreakncfs and vaniry oFMr. 
Adum , Your pretended difnpprobation of d^e Pre- 



ALEXANPBn f!l MILTON". i g. 

^dent's condail, is only external j for, I will pay 
rou the compliment to fay, that I fincerely believe 
your heart approves of it. The chief; objection t«f 
him is the difplacing of fome men who could not,* — « 
would not, concur with the falut^ry find itbfolutely 
necefifary mealures that he has adopted for the prefer-* 
vation of the government. Suppofe Sir, that yoa 
.wercj for inftance? elevated to the Prefidential chaiT* 
(and were to be made acquainted with fome mal-piac-r 
^ices in the various departments of the adminiftra- 
tion — would you not remove thofe men from office 
whom you lliould find to be guilty ? I muft think 
you certainly Would. And yet there are many of 
this defcription who Itill hold their places under 
Mr.JefferfOn; becaufe* perhaps, he does not yet know 
their faults— auppofe Sir, you, as Prefident of thft 
^ni'ted States? were to be fubftantia,lly convinced in 
tlie mofl unequivocal manner, that any officer oC 
fOnfi4erable confequence, with a good fat falary, 
(hould live fo difEpated a life as to be obliged to bor- 
row money from all his induftrious neighbours t© 
fupport his extravagance, nay even ro obtain it in a 
furreptitious manner from ? merchant, under the cloak 
of his office — he fhould apply it to his own private- 
life, and leave the merchant afterwards to pay it over 
again — and after all this ihameful tranfa6lion, this. 
Othcer fhould refufe to refund the money or fecure it 
—but fufFer himfeif to be expofed by a fuit in the 
Mayor's court, which he put off as lang as the court; 
Would permit hi-s lawyers to do it ; ahd> finally, when 
the^nerchaat was on the point of getting out an ex- 
ec lition, he was aftonifiicd to fmd the caufe was re« 



•t4 LETTERS TO 

Xnoved into another court'.' I fay Mr. Hamilton, if] 
you were Prefident of the United States would you 
not remove this officer from your confidence ? I am 
fure you would. 

But Sir. this is only one inftance out of many 
which might be mentioned to fhew that the Prefident 
is- in pofleifion of., fufficient information to induce 
bim to a6l as he has done • and that, fo far from treat- 
ing thofe difcarded gentlemen with crueltyj he keeps 
their faults fccret, which is the milded: method he could 
have adopted. For the proof of the above fact, I need 
only refer you to the records of the courts? and to 
the information of one of your moil intimate friends 
at the bar. — Verhum fat. 

Now, let me aflc my fellow-citizen's, whether our 
public affairs are not now lodged in fafer hands than 
they would have been, had the people fufFered them to 
remain in the hands of men of fuch chara6i:ers a"s I 
have defcribed- — is not the monied and the landed in- 
terefts of the country as fafc in the hands of our 
prefent happy adminillration, as it could have been 
under the government of the former rulers — have 
yjt not, at leajl, as good fecurity for the hanor of our 
wives and daughters ! ! ! 

Your amorous tranfaclions I will not hint at in 
thefe letters, unlefs fome of the fcribbling fools 
fhotdd provolce me to it by ufing fach low indelicate 
innucndos as the pamphlet now alluded to is ftufFed 
with. vDefperatei indeed mufl- be the fituation of that 
faction who would hire fuch fcurrillous fcribblers. It 
has been faid of the people of Conne6Hcut, that tlicy 
liaJ fur die Uu three or four years, taken the siunk 



ALEXANDER HAMILTOjf. I^ 

6f dlfiTiniulation from every other (late or nation — thft 
poor Irilh not excepted. But the whole ftate of 
Connefticut cannot produce half a dozen fuch credi" 
ditahJe gentlemen as have broken into this country) with- 
in a few years from Caledonia. T^ake notice^ Sirj I 
.mean no refie6tion on that country in general? be- 
caufe I circulate fome Scotch blood, as probably may 
be the cafe with yourfelf. I now confine my j-emarks 
to the Callender at Richmond, and John Wood, 
Jately of New-York, who have been fo kindly re- 
ceived into the monarchical -fclub — Mr. Wood is really 
a valuable acquijition to any fociety — he is tea-cher of 
half a dozen languages, none of whrch can he 
fpeak or write !— if this be not prefumption, I knoW 
not where impertinence will end. One day, like Mr.- 
Lang, on the French negro-landing, he tells truth by 
affirming to the world that he is a liar, and the next 
he afferts that he was a liar when he told the 
the truth ! — yet this is the man who has had the alTu- 
rance to undertake to write upon religion, and go- 
vernment — WHO WILL BELIEVE HIM ? — what an 
handfome importation it was when we hail'd him and 
the vjheel-barrovj man to our fhores ? neither of them 
could know any thing of the true interefts of Ame- 
rica. But they will try their hands, alfo, at book-ma- 
king. Every cow-boy in Scodand attempts to be- 
come an author, and with the effrontery of Belzebub 
they will venture neck and limb on writing a book; 
and when they are found out afterwards to be nothing 
better than common plagiarifts and impoftors, their 
■characler ftands in as good d fituatioa as it was- be-' 



k^ LET'i'ERS "tS 

ifere. They lofe nothing, and they gain nbtdnctf^ 
jnuch in the fame way thcit the famous Guy Faux didi 
iand it Is to be hoped they may meet with c fimilar 
reward. In making this obfervatidn, I miil repeai 
iny former declaration, that I mean to make no ailu- 
fion or reiifcc'don upon that coiintry which has prOdu- 
tt!^ (o tnany men of as great abilities arid virtue as an^ 
iiation whatever. 

This mofl: difgraceful and unnatural enllftment of 
Wood and Calendar into the mionarchial-federal corpi 
tan never aid Or alTift to raife up thofe men who have 
j^ifcftly loft their coHfequence in the eyes ot the public J 
but wlio are ftriving hard to deceive abf'Ut five mil- 
iions of fenfible people Into the idea? that they* 
— the difcomnted, and difcarded few — are the onltP 
MEN fitted to hold the reins of government.— Was it 
not right and wife to fnatch the wliij^ from their 
hands ? Such deA^erate men as thefe are would no\<> 
wade up to their necks iii blood to recover their for- 
mer ftations, arid like Milion's Prince of the powet 
of foul airs, they would rebel agaihft any government 
let it be ever fo well adminiftered, unlefs tUt.^ wer^ 
to be the fuprenne diilators. No wonder that the peo- 
ple of luch an enlightened Coimiry as ours, fhould 
take the reins, tlie Whips and the fpurs away from tho^ 
Jehus. And if they Ihould ever recover them a- 
gain> it rnufl happen in confequence of forae extraor-^ 
dinary anodynes being treachcroufly adminidered toi. 
lull the people into a p.ofound ilccp, whdlt 5*HJ!F- 
were Paoli-ing them. It is not th jiR abilities, cithct 
as writers, painters, politicians, printers, or foldiers,-r- 
•ihat can give them a fuperior title to the confidence 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON 17' 

©f mankind — becaufe, we have always experienced 
the fuperior powers of the republican fplrit^ whenever 
they were forced or provoked lo exert it. And fo it 
will be for ever naore, amen. 

In my next letter, I fhall probably take fome no- 
tice of your hopeful young fcribe Philoenus — Bat 
leil I fhould tire you too much at the firft onfet, I 
' will here make a pause ! — in the borrowed language 
of your friend Afmodeus, who conceited himfelf, no 
doubt, a fecond Cicero, (as I may call myfelf a fe- 
cond Daniel) for ** you have been weighed in the ba- 
lance, and found v/anting" — artd your domifu'on over 
the government of the United States fliall be taken 
from you and divided amongft the old vvl.i<is and re- 
publicans. 

Tom Callender. 

LETTER II. 



Sir, 

*' In addrefling you," faith youi* young fcriblerus, 
*<I AM NOT ACTUATED by zuj of thofe motives 
which have gathered around you fuch a bevy of 
hungry expe6}ants," &-c. In conformity to the plan 
attempted by him, the faid amanuenfis, I can fafely fay, 
that, neither am I achiatcd by any fuch motives : — 
nor fhall my rcfpe6f for Mr. Hamilton's literary 
abilities, intimidate me into the fubmifllve ftile of 
Phil^nus, who takes up five and twenty pages of 
his pampJilet about himfelf and his wonderful acquire- 
nrtnts, .--nd political and religious tenets. On the con- 
C 



30 LETTERS TO 

thiry, I will make no apology to the public for wrl-. 
ting thefe letters to you Sir, whom I have always 
cbnfidered as the greateft Machiavel in America, al- 
thwigh I never thought you were tl-.e greatest 
man. 

This was the opinion of Bifhop Talleyrand: 
That tliou wert the Sauiour of this happy land. But 
whether the bifliop did or did not exprefs thofe fenti- 
jnents to Doctor Smith, ofSouth Carolina, over a 
bottle of wine, is a query of little confequence ton 
the world ; as William Smith's character has been 
tolerably well defined by Doctor Ramfey, to whoever 
will take the trouble to look into the Charleftown 
newf-papers at the time of their contefted ele6tion. 

The high-iiowing flile of yourfeif which only ob- 
fcurcs the understanding without coirvincing it> I fhall 
not attempt upon the good fenfe of my fellow-citi- 
zensj neither will I box. the corApafs of di61ionary- 
fliip like meffieurs Webfter, Coleman, Philxnus, and 
Co. to fleal langu.ige of which they were ne^er origi- 
nally poiTelled. I fay Sir, I mean not to ape youc 
lofty ftile, nor mimic the low cant of Coleman and 
Callender — one of whom, (the new ally of the Hamil- 
tonian-dominion,) is my name-fake, although he is no 
blood-relation; becaufe he himfelf told me, that he 
was greatly afBi6ted M'ith a weaknefs of the nerves, a 
diforder with which none of my family of the Callen- 
ders have ever been peftered. As an inftance of this, 
?.nd left any of yours or the Vice-Prefident's friends 
and gladiators (hould imagine that I v.'as any way 
balWul abput naming the Revenue ©Sicer whom X 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON* t^ 

fjavc hinted at in my firft letter, I here beg leave to 
refer to Mr. Troup who brought the fuit againft him> 
end if he fhould hefitate on the bufinefs, I can ap- 
peal to the merchant, who will fubftantiate the fa6t» 
and who told mc, he was refolved to lay the ftatc of 
his cafe before the Prefident of the United States.-— 
You may perceive that 1 go' upon gQod ground ; and 
it muft appear evident to your fuperior intelle6l, that 
although there may be one man in America whQ 
would n^e fccond-mc?.ns to get rid of a rival, I dread 
him not. But, with rcrpe6l to you. Sir, I declare* 
that, fo far from fufpccting you of countenancing fo 
bafe a proceeding, I am heartily convinced of your 
/ftridl adherence to the principles of a foldier and ^ 
man, and that you would deteft any M^etch that would 
implicate upon himfelf fuch a vile fufpicion. 

I think it neceffary to make this declaration of my 
private opinion of you as a gentleman, though 1 may 
widely differ with you in general politics. From 
you, I am confident, I am perfeQ.ly fecure, with 
refpe6l to any foul mode of refentment; but. Sir, I 
do not confider all your allies in the fame honora- 
ble point of of view'. After the dark-handed confpi- 
xacy of a certain conceited lawyer, who, to get rid 
of an opponent, would \.uc adventitious means, it is 
high time for the genuine friends of America to look 
fiiarp. If fuch men as thefe were to rule the roaft> 
we l^^ould foon witncfs the death of the liberties and 
profpcrity of America. The literary allaffin is, un- 
doubtedly, a great peil to focicty ; but tliC favages whe 



20 LETTERS TO 

undertake to bully voters at times of ele£lion, or, In- 
deecl, at any other time, fliould be marked, and I 
have fo minutelywatched their condud as to be able 
to developc moft of their fecret intrigues for the at- 
■ tainment of power. The bale and cowardly attacks 
made upon republican printers at New-.York, Phila- 
delphia, and other parts of the United States, w-ill not 
foon be forgotten. The circumflance of Duane's be- 
ing held fad by one of the ftrongeft men in Araericaf 
whilft tlie fon of a confervator of our iMs played off 
the ^valour of his fifts upon his faccj is fuch an inftance 
of turpitude, as, I hope, I fliall never hear of an 
equal to; nor fhall I eafily forgive Duane for not 
having taken an exemplary reveng©. It is true he 
challenged the youth, who it is generally allowed, 
modellly refufed to meet him. The Democrats may 
here fuppofe I am not altogether up to their fyftems-— 
nor am I. — Neither did I ever confider the magiftrate 
alluded to, nor his fecretary Dallas, nof Ingerfoll, 
who is intended for the next gpvernor, as true repub- 
licans. I could here give my reafpns, but I leave the 
decifion to fuch men as have been in habits of 
intimacy with them* In the fame light do I view fonae 
leading chara61-ers in the dates of New-York, Jerfey> 
Sac. Mr. Bloomfield is no republican— rieithcr art 
thou, Mr. Ilamiko.n, notwithllanding your oppoiition 
to the Duke of Bvalntrce's chimerical monarchy. 
You will hcie naturally obfervc that I am not amongit 
tlie Hit of timid fcribblers — not very much alarmed 
at the refentment of dilappointed royalills — or the 
furious thunder bolts of brother Jonathan. For if, 
they attack me in front I will endeavor to defend 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ft* 

Tmyfelf as M-ell as I can — and if they take me in th^ 
rear — I am fure it will not be with your confent. 

The fportiman-Hke phrafe of Philsnus at the on- 
fet of h}s pamphlet might induce fome honeft fellows 
of the chace to follow him through the foreft ; but 
if any of them fhould give a view-holla? he will 
not come up within a mile of the hunt — and fo far 
from being calculated for a huntfman, he is incapable 
of performing th^ duty of a whipper-inn to a pack of 
well trained harriers. 

On purchafing the pamphlet, I carelefsly opened it 
at page 48, and on reading lines 5, 6, 7 and 8 could 
not reftrain a Jaugh at mafter Philacnus's fagacious re- 
marks on the pondufit of Mr. Jefferfon. He accufes the 
Prcfident, of having expreffed ^' his contempt for their 
(^he members of the late eje6iion) underi^andings, by 
anfwering their reafonabie and refpeclful reinonftfances 
y^ith a pqmppus difplay of logical nonfetife and angry re- 
criminations."— Who is there amongfl: the fens of the 
nionarchical-feds that can explain to ys the meaning of 
logigal nonfenfe ? Stop the youth from writing, as foon 
as pofijble ; otherwifj he will put an extinguifher 
over the dying flames of ariftocracy. It is really wafting 
time to look ovei- this poor pamphlet, l^or would any 
one think of doing it, were it not for the general coq- 
virion that Mr. Hamilton approved of its publication. 
Sir, why will you not fuffcr an experiment to be mad? 
in the art of fimplifying government under the manage- 
ment of Mr. jefferfon ; as you defired when you led th^ 
van under the adminiftration of the great and good, but 
much impofed on V/aHiingtonj with your complicatti^ 
plains r-T-all you aPKed from the oppofition ihcu, w^s t» 



%ll Letters to 

give them a fair tri^l ;— which was confcntcd to ; and 
not only jour plans, but your language and your pen 
were allowed to© great a range of abfoliite liccntioufnefs. 
Your party in New-York were ready not only to fupport 
you with their purfes but even to mob any man in the 
;ftreets who differed in opinion with themfelves and you. 

The refult has been, as I have .ilready faid, in con- 
formity with my text— your dominion has been taken 
from you &:p. by the general confent and wdl of the 
people on whom you calculated to enforce your fchemes 
hy threatenings and hard blows. 

The various fyftems of intrigue carried on? by yotir 
affociates, at that time, are frefli in my recoil e6tion. 
The attempt made by a private citizen, when in Eu- 
■*ope> at the time of the debate upon your fundintg 
fyftem, to purchafe the whole debt which the United 
States owed to France, and to fell this contract to the 
Hopes of Amlterdam, who were to furnifli the mo- 
ney, was a fubjeit in the fenate, who reje6ted the no- 
mination of that citizen, by the Prefident, to the place 
of ambaflTador ip France; yet he w^as afterwards ap- 
pointed, through the intrigues of Robert Morris* 
whcfe relation to him was no more than being con- 
cerned in a plan for felling lands in the moon, to. Eu- 
ropean fpeculators, whiclij when properly enquired 
for, were not to be found. Hence the depreciation 
of the American chararler in Europe originated, and 
hence the fubfequent reduction of the financier-gen eral 
«f ths United States, to the humble ftation of a binh 
in the jail of Philadelphia. If he had only confidered 
the old faying, " that honcfty is the beft policy." He 
jicver wou!4 have qonfented to \^ coneern^d with tb^is 



ALEXANDER HAMILtON. f^jf 

triable BoiteauXy who ruined his creSit and confequenctf 
in Europe. Perhaps it was fiom this circumftance that 
John Adams took up the idea which he has fo fatfi-^ 
otlcally exprefled in the book he wrote in London, yclept 
** A Defeme of the American Coiijlitutioti,'''' wherein he 
fays, that the Americans '* have no chara6ler.'* Thaufc 
you Mr. Adams-^you were then probably in the fame 
way of thinking that the Diable Boiteaux 'exprclTecl 
lately in the Senate of the United States when he faicJ 
tlie people themfelves were their own worft enemies ? 
what an elegant figure in rhetoric was this to come fronii 
the lips of fiich a Cicero ? — It was kind, and merciful^ 
indeed, when bellowed from the lungs of a man cf the 
moft contrnQed dbilities amongfl the feds, but of the 
moll unlimited effrontefy. His hard-editntA eflates, or 
fine houfe, furniture, and equipage have not any efFefl 
upon the real republicans to produce refpe^ for his per- 
foD or his merit — 1 heartily defpife both, and Ihould pafs 
an evening with more genuine comfort in company with 
a Pcughkeepfie farmer, than with him and all his bought 
cr borrowed iuflre. In the fame eflimation, do I hold 
Mr. Bingham, the breerhes-mal;er's fon, at Philadel- 
phia. The trade, I hope, will net take offence at my 
cltfling him amongfl: t-heni. There are many brokers in 
New- York, &c. who ride in coaches, but who would 
appear more in chara6ter if they were to parade the 
ilreets in buttermilk-earts, or at the arms of bakers' 
iR'heeibarrows. 

The vulgarity of fome of the eaftern members of 
Congrcfs, is only to be equalled by their inclination 
to intrigue and low cunning. They p^(^f'ffed the 



.j2L... 



,<I4 LETTERS TO 

mofl unlimited obedience to your propofitions, let 
them be ever fo extravagant; yetwhenit came to voting 
for Prefident of the U. States, &c. although you, Sirj. 
had written a terrible letter againft John Adams, as a 
private circular, to be firft fent to the electors to in- 
fluence them as far as your weight would carry it, and 
afterwards it was again publifiicd by Lang, in New- 
York, &c. The whole efFecl it had on the ele6tion, 
both in the Eaflern and Southern ftates, was — That 
your letter did not make a lirtgle profelyte — nor did 
John Adams Ibfe by it a fingle vote. From fuch 
experience as this, it is but fair to judge, that your 
interefl: and influence could effecl nothing. The 
calling of caucaufles, tlierefore, at New-York, of the 
difcon tented few, ought not to be confidered, as any 
very dangerous combination againft republicanifm — 
They, undoubtedly, were for an ariftocracy. Adams 
was agdinft them a little — he was for a monarchy ; 
fhey could not agree, and republicanifm came again 
out of the fire like piire gold. 

The particulars of thefe caufes and efFecls I fhall 
explain at not a very diftant day, — nor fhall any petty 
fcribbler like Philaenus prevent me. The intolerable 
ufe of detra61ion propagated by your affociate?, have 
brought down deftruction on themfelves — you fliewed 
them an example in the phillippic you pronounced, 
long ago, againft Wafhington, when you preferred 
Greene. You fhewed them another example, in the 
fame complimentary ftyle, when you attempted to 
ridicule Gov. Clinion, in the letters you wrote for the 
* Daily Advertifer in the years 1787 — 88, under the fig- 
jiature of H. G. The fyft of thofe cflays, on Wafh- 



ALEXANDER HAMILTOIT. Sg 

tngton, was no more than barking at tli<^ moon : and 
thefecond, againft Clinton, had no better iffue, £lliho' 
■you put up Judge Yates, a good republican^ againil 
his friend — So it has been with you thfoughout your 
peregrinations in politics. They would have fucceed- 
ed betterjhadthey been grafted bna founder flock — youir 
ftanJing army, and excife, wci^e equally ill-judged 
things. They might have anfwered for the next cen- 
tury, if Our pofterity fliould then become fuch abject 
tools to felf-impdrtant archite6ts of governn":ent as 
you and Mr. Adams. But Sir, government can, and 
has been fimplified, as I have already faid, and we find 
that republicanilm may, can, and fliall, be eflabliflied. 
it would be well for you if you could agree with me in 
this fentiment. You are not fo much tied down by 
your promifes to arillocracy, but that you might make 
one more effort to regain your ftation amongfl: re- 
publicans. This may appear to fome as a i\y invita- 
tion to join the good old pa.rty ; but, be affured. Sir, 
they generally think dicy can do very well without 
you. 

You have had recourfe to a vaft quantity of /jy/'j- 
Work, and printing-offxes in your time, to carry your 
points, let them be good or evil ; and I remem- 
ber when you were confidered by die printers of 
New-York as infpcclor-general of every tMng they 

Ihould bring forth. Adieu to fuch days !• — 

You mult now ftand on vour own bottomj iiorAvlll 

all the Thunderer of Jerfey can do. forward you an 

inch in your defigns. I know not of any tircum- 

iUnce, plan, or fchemc of vours, that has been, inr 

i> 



^ LETTERS TO 

anywife likely to become permanent. Blame V)\\9 
who you will for this defalcation, I can fcarcely 
imagine t!iat it was altogether the child of your own 
brain ] let me rather fuppofe it was vanity,, like that 
by which Mr. Adams was ailuated. You had bad ad- 
lifers, and they led youaftray. 

TOM CALLENDER.. 

LETTER III. 



S I r:, 

oOME of your friends mny pretend to fav, it is^ un- 
generous to attack you in print, as you arc out of of- 
fice, and have nothing to do with the preftnt admini* 
ftration. This is true enough, you have not any thing 
to do with it — in favour of it, or in fupport of it — but 
you have fomething to do in the Rye-houfe-plot-wcilc 
that is brewing ygainfi; it; which will crumble to du/l, 
as almofl all jour ether" political plans have none. — 
We ffiufl and will have a quiet and peaceable govern- 
jnent — we have it now, and we will keep it in defpi:e 
of all the Macbeth witchcraft of the fallen angels . You 
fee I go freely into the little labour of examinirtg your 
GREAT works. The Pilot-boatman makes v7ie item 
of what you have to anfwer for. Your winking at 
ipany improprieties committed againft the people's 
peace, as well as their pockets, is another ! and your 
oountenancing the publication of fuch tralh as Junius 
Philzenus is a third, with many ether thirds> fifdls, and 
t»ftav«6 to fill uo vcur concerto.. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 27 

The flneffeand ftratagems -^'hich were praciifcd en 
Thomas Paine by Robert Morris &c. in the years 
.1785, and 1786,, whiifthe was at Philadelphia) are 
.frefh in my recollection. They (the enemies of 
American commerce) ruined his chara6\er thenj witii 
.his own friendS) by prevdiing on him to write a pam- 
.phlet in favour of the bank of North-America, w hich 
TS^as compofed of a fei of traders, not banl<^crs> They 
Jcnew nothing of banking. All the banks in Europe 
^?:;^<cepiing the bank of England, are pompofed of men 
■vvho have c a s H-capitals ; none of your fcrips will tell 
j.there, becaufe the banker is under an honorary obli- 
_^ation not to interfere in any fort of merchandize— 
he Ijmjts himfelf to the biiying and felling of bullion. 
But, in America, die banking gentry are all traders 
in Wet and dry goods ; and when they want to fpe- 
culate upon a purchafe of rum, fugar, or Eall India 
crockery, they contrive to have a partner who fends 
his .note to the bank to be difcounted, in order to pro- 
vide the means to make that very purchafe : his 
.friend amongft the dire6lors — his partner ! — will cer- 
tainly endeavpur to get that note done, in preference 
to a better note, and a better man, and better fecu; ity 
than the other. Here is banking indecd> to reje<!-l 
good paper and take in bad ! 

Your Philsenus attempts to give us a balance^fheet 
of the ftate of American affairs; but let him, if he 
can, explain to us the propriety of the above fyftcm ! 
On a fimilar plan was the bank of the United States 
eClabliflicd: — It was pretended that it was to fup]ovt 
the government — and fo it was. But what fort of a 
government?— A government that was yet to b? 



■itB LETTERS TO 

J-aifed ufon the ruins of the prefent cohftitutlon, nc-» 
cording to any conftru6Hon the Ariftocrats migh? 
chcofe to put upon It; and all this was to be eiFedt-* 
cd by foi'ce of arms, and banks? and intrigue. Seve^ 
yal unconflitutional z'Sls were forced through the le- 
giflaturcj by fmall influenced majonties ; and the 
power of the country, and the liberties of the people 
were about to be divided) like loaves and fifhes, 
-amongfl: about fifty or an hundred aristocrats.— Va- 
rious orders of nobllilty were to be infl^Hed; and on 
the very day that Mr. Adams arrived at New-York tQ 
take the chair of Prefident of the Senate, a motion 
was made, by one of his particular friehds, in the fe- 
nute, to confer titles on the officers of gpvern- 
pient, and to Gre61: two or three ranks or degrees 
of the members of the legifl&ture. Let any perfoft 
look into the minutes of the fenate, then kept by Mr. 
Otis, (with the affiftance of fame of the fenatorij. fqr 
he was not competent himfelf to that trifling talk) 
and it "will be difcovered, that the fenate was employ- 
ed, for the greater part of two or three weeks, at the 
firfl organization of the govcrnrnent, on that Illujlri- 
cus bufiiicfs, and wiiich was fp often rcje6ted by the 
b.oufe of reprefentativcsj that they fairly Ihamed 
the fenate out of it; and they, inftead of ordering the 
difgvaccful tranfa6lion to be erased from their books, 
vi'ith tlie tenacity of a child to its hobby-horfe, have 
entered on their minutes, in wprds expreffive of 
their forrow, at not being able to conform themfelves 
to the cuftoms of Europe, in regard to titles of Nobi- 
lity ; but that, from a defire of keeping up a friendly 
iptcrpQurre with the houk; of rcprefeiiiativ^Sj tli^y 



ALEXjfKDER KAMH.TON'* ^ 

%Ould, /or the frefenti poitpone .the f^irthex confidera- 
jtion of the fubjett. Thus, they have not entirely 
.given up all hopes of reviving it at feme convenient 
moment hereafter; apd thus this bantlirug of Mr. 
Adams's brain wa§ put out \o nurCe ! I wiih they 
Jiad torn the minutes of that debate from their books, 
and fent them to israintree with him on the morning 
he ran away fo early from Wafhington rather than 
jaear the light of feeipg Mr. JefFevfon fworn into of- 
fice. I mull notomit mentioning here, that itismyopi^r 
, nionj had you at the time of the illujirlous debatCj giv^ 
en it your hearty and fmcere fupport? it w'ould have 
i^een carried through both houfes of the legiflature* 
-and we fhould now be difgufted wjth a royal alona-^ 
flljaek publiflied annually containing a lengthy 'lift of 
^honoraibie Sedgwieks, right honourable Thatchers? 
jnoft honorable Ames', and tnojl iljiiflrious Adamites^. 
Your condu^ on that occafion, therefore defervcB 
the high^ft appVobation, whether it proceeded from a 
luke-warmnefs to tire fcheme, or from a complete 
pontempt of the effeminacy of fo ridiculous a proje6):, 
•Indeed, it would redound fomething furtiier to your 
credit, if you CQ^u}d yet prevail with fomeof your 
friends in the prefent fcnate, to move for the erafure df 
,Z.\\ the minutes that were foifted into the books on 
that fubjecl. And in doing this you would only b« 
Sifting in conforiiiity with the -opinions you exprefs in 
your letter to Mr. Adams fo foon after the difmilTal 
of the army at Briftol. You;, I am fure gained jio 
jnoney or eftates by your rank qr pay, but he took 
care to feather his neit well for himfelf and his young 
-plies. So ^hat he could the better bea,r your attack. 



jffy LETTERS TO 

*It would make a good caricature to Ikctch him thu§. 
Sitting fnugly, in a warm neft, oA the top of a largk 
weeping-willow at Braintreej looking clown at yout 
'headlefs body as it approaches from Fort- Pit, which 
might be reprefented in the back ground all in flames— 
'Your head, as you faid yourfelf, you would never 
bring it back otherwife, might be exhibited as follow- 
ing after you like a balloon in the air, whihl. Mr, 
"Adams fbould appear in a full bag-wig with a fort 6f 
■glory around his head, and vaft clouds in a thoufantl 
landed fhapes and forms of coronets, fceptrcs, thrones* 
kingdoms, and millions of flars, and gartei's. On 
ills left breafl: a bulfe of diamond with the order of the 
"WHITE Du c K in the centre. The trunk of the wil- 
low fhould have fcarlet-ribbond twining like ivy in 9. 
fpiral line with feveral gilt mottos fuch as «' folin 
^mbHitas viriiis.'^ *< A dfo et Rege,'* ((Malum mori 
quam. fcederare" ^c. And let a large owl appear 
^igh hovaring in the air, in the a61: p( balancing a fir aw. 
Thus equipped and defended we leave him, for a mo- 
.ment to take a view of vpur mode Q.i :lodily at- 
tack — with a ful} uniform, a truncheon in one hand, 
and your letter in the other, you muft "appear in 
.the aft of kicking your great jack-boots ?.gni nil the 
roct of the willow, until the Prulfian Embaffadov* 
who was placed there by way of cenitnel — feconds 
ihe alarm, and calls out to his Pa> quack ! quack ! 
quack 1 

It may offend fome to fee Mr. Ada.ms thus fatirif- 
ed; but I fubmit to the world, whether his conduit 
jn running away in the manner he did from "Wafliing- 
l^.n did not defcrve the fevc^eft cenfure.-r-Did Gcpe-i 



ALEXANDER RAT^WLTOT^. $T, 

tsX Wafliingtori behave in this mannerto him when^ 
he was firft (worn into ofEce at Philadelphia. No — he 
paid him all the refpecl poffible and affumed no otlicr 
conrequence than that of a private citizen, and fo did 
Mr. JefFerfon, they both walked humbly in his train* 
Mr. Adams came down from the Senate chamber firft,- 
and I recolle6l that he? fomc how, neglecled fo fore- 
flicwten his fword whilfl on the ftairs, fo that it trailed 
on the fteps and made a noife that put me much in 
mind of the cat's feet to which a wicked boy had waxed 
1^'alrtut-fhells, in order to frigluen'a family at midnight 
with fufpicions of a ghoft. I alfo reco!le6l on the fame 
occafion that when Mr. Adams entered the Houfe of 
Repfefentatives in order to be fworn, Mr. Jefferfon 
was ftill Secretary of State, and had he been as ccre-^ 
monioLis as the illuilrious fenators wanted to be, he 
would, as feeond officer in the government, have im- 
mediately followed the Prefident, and Gen.Wafhing- 
tori being fenfible of the propriety thereof, and feeling' 
himfelf only in the ftation of a private citizen* with 
that dignified fimplicity and modefty that have evei* 
ehara(51eri2ed him, fell b?.ek on one fide of the eri" 
trance, and bowing to Mr. JefFerfort', whllil with hisi 
hand, he filently fignified to him, to walk in before. 
But Mr.. JefFerfon, without a moment's hefitation, fell 
back alfo on the other fide of the door; and after bow- 
ing to the general, he flood up firm and ere6i. It was 
the moft-lnterefling fcene of elegant contention I had 
ever beheld, but laded only about two feconds, and 
the general was obliged to enter firft. I am the more 
■p^articular in mentioning this ciicamftance* as it ha~& 



1^3 l|,lTtERS t* 

been falfely propagated and publifhed» that Mt. Je^ 

ferion was not an admirer of the general. I believe 

on the contrary he was the greateft bofom friend that 

the infpired Wafliingtoh had in the world. Let hit 

conduft on this occalicn be compared to Mr. Adams's 

flight, and then anfwer me whether it had any of th© 

fymptoms of Nobility* 

Tom Callendbx* 

LETTER IV 



Sir, 

Since r have ventured to offer my humble afllftaAcfe 
in defence of the charader of the virtuous VVafhing-^ 
ton, againft all detraftors, it here occurs to my memo^ 
ty, the villainous publication in London of an Effay 
by that loweft of all rafcals, Cobbett, in the Anti-Jaco-* 
bin Review, vol. 5, page 547, which none of the Aid-* 
de-camps of our Commander in chief, have ever yet 
taken the trouble to contradict — no, nor our divines* 
who have been fo bufy in this city in defending th« 
fair fame of Col. Burr — nor the inlblcnt Abercromby 
at Philadelphia who was hand and glove widi that in- 
fernal enemy to all decency. I fay, Sir, that it ap- 
pears tome on rclleiVion, a little Itrange, that yoi| 
have never ftepped forward to draw your pen in the 
defeijce of your old commander. Ii is ftill more 
ftrange that fome of the clerical order have alfo omit^ 
ted to do it ; and it is more than <* pafllng ftrange, 
'tis pitiful," that the author of Serious Conlideraiions* 
ibould find leifure fufficicnt from his holv ftudies, t* 



AEXANDER HAMILro:^. ^ 

ijlrrite a pamphlet of abufive language againfl Mr. Jef- 
ferfon, who is a better chriftian than either himfelt or 
any of his coadjutors; and yet he could overlook 
the villainous flander of the Britilh fcoundrel. Cob- 
bet. I appeal to all America, whether I can: ufe anj^, 
exprelTion too harfh on fuch an occztfion ? I will 
ri6w endeavour to wipe off the {lain which that ruffiaii 
has attem pted to caft upon the memory of a man* 
" the latchet of whofe fhoes he was not worthy to 
" unloofe." 

The aid which was adminiftered to Porcupine in 
New York and Philadelphia, iuiil be art everlafling. 
dlfgrace to the memories of thofe who fuppoited him ; 
whilft the glory of Walhington will rife higher and 
higher in the eftimation of every age hereafter. 

In the book which I have alluded to, an attempt is 
made to give a review of American publications) and 
on the front of the lift we find a lingle article con- 
taining a criticifm on two diftinfl and fcparate fub- 
jefts J theone of which is the eulo'gium delivered by a 
geritlenian of the American revolutionary army on 
the charadler of Gen. Wafhington. — The other, a' 
prayer of a clergyman at the opening of an innocent 
ceremony of refpe6l to departed virtue? which hap- 
pened fliortly after the account of that great man's 
death had reached that city. 

The anti-jacobin reviewer, whofe abilities compar- 
ed to thofe of the old reviewers is like charcoal to 
diamonds, commences his criticifm with a few lines 
C^f pirated language? and afterwards falls into his own 
Ww and pitifai abufe. The firft paragraph is— « If 

E 



34 LETTERS TO 

* every Individual were an infulated being> who lived' 

* for himfelf, agreeably to the new fyftcm of certain 

< German philofophifts, no detriment to fociety could 
« accrue from a rigid adherence to the ancient max-* 

* im — De mortuis nil njfi bcTium. But fo long as falu- 

* tory leffons of a religious and political nature are 

< to be deduced — fo long as moral inclinations for the 
<■ ufe and benefit of fociety are to be derived from the- 
« condu(Sl: and characters of men, who have made a 

* confpicuous figure on the theatre of life — fo long 
*-fhall we continue to reprehend a ftriit obfervance of 
*'fuch a maxim, as calculated to deprive mankind of 

< the advantages of example, which intereft alike the 

< heart and the underftandlng, arid emine»itly contri- 

* bute to promote the caufe of virtue. The n?7 ttr/r 

< verum is the only rule worthy of attention, in the 

* delineation of public chdradters." 

To tins paragra]:j-h an eafy anfwer occurs. — True? 
it will oiTend not only mnny and excellent men, but 
it muft offend every excellent man to know that any 
attempt to diminllh the rcfpeft that is juftly due to 
the memory of Wafhington, efpccially when it is 
confidered that the attempt has been made by fuch a 
Vile mifcrcant. ** Accuftomed to make facrifices to 
truth," as he lays of himfelf* but which all good men 
win Inftantly undcriland the true meaning to be, ac- 
cujiamed to fiur'^fice all truth and decency ; and as to his 
rot yielding to the tide of popular prejudice — every 
fenfible man knows, that a long ferles of popular opi- 
nion amounts as nearly to truth as any theorem in 
fluxions. Sir Ifaac Newton would not, were he liv- 
ing, deny it, although this cobweb-brulKer of a book- 
ftore has the fpitefulnefs to oppofe it., 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Jj 

The Americans have not been too lavifli of their 
commendations on their hero—- for the efFufion of a few 
individiials, who may have ovcr-ftept the bounds of me- 
chanic language, yet had, neyeirhelefs, a good intention 
in every word they fpoke; and althor^h they may have 
committed feme little miftakes, in the modus in rebusy 
fiiil their hearts, at the time they were fpeaking, wcie 
jojrtiter in rf-^-j:his is only borrowing the wcr»ls of one 
of the greateft Englifh politicians. 

In the firft inftance, we find that the philanthropy 
and philofophy of ancient maxims are rejefted, to 
make way for the nil nifi verum, ** in order to promote 
the gaufe of vjrtug!" — -and, in the fame piece, the writ- 
er, afterwards, condemns the epifcopal clergy, for hav- 
ing deviated from the old cJiabliJJje^ orthodox rules and 
orders of the ages of ignorance and fuperftition. He 
pretends to a knowledge of the affairs of the churches j 
wc fhall fee prefently how well informed he is on that 
fLib'iea : 

** The advantages of example which equally inte- 
rcfl the heart and the underftanding," he fays, are 
refufed to him, if he were obliged to pay refpefit to. 
the old maxim, de mortuis nil niji bonunt ; ergo, he leaps 
<.ver all the bounds of both ancient and modern decency 
and truth , and, under a malk of fecirching after vfraci- 
ty, he, unequivocally, attempts to hold up the charac* 
ter of one of the truest Men that ever lived, as an 
example— for what; — not for imitation! but quite the 
ponjrary ! I am afhamed to follpw up this rafc^liy iiiik- 



36 LETTERS TO 

nuation any further, nor would I have ever condefcenJed 
to bring this impotent magazine into view, v.tre it not 
I know many individuals in America who take a fjcret 
malicious pleafure in ^ypporting /ome foreigners, who 
ultimately prove to be their deep-rooted enemies. 

If the de'"p!cable author of the Review means to in- 
fmuate, which I am fure he does, that general Wafiiing- 
ton has not contributed to the caufc of virtue — then all 
the good and great men on the face of this globe, who 
have admired and praifed the virtue oi our Patriot Chief, 
niufl be very ignorant, indeed, or this difgraceful Britifh: 

Reviewer muft be fo abominable a , that Milton's 

defcription of Satan would not afford colours fufficiently 
black to paint him in. 
There fhall be millions of millions hereafter, of the 
E E s T and BRAVEST of mankind, to fpeak and write, 
in the moft ardent praife of WASHINGTON. 

His fecond paragraph goes thus: <* A chu'ch is, af- 

* furedlyj the moft improper of all places for the delive- 

* ry of a profcffed eulogium.. The temple of Truth 

* fhould never be polluted by the drains cf adulation. 

* And flattery more grofs, feldom, we conceive, efcaped 

* the lips of man, in any place whatever. **,,Who fliall 
** delineate a jufl: portrait of that charader which was 
*^ ferfci^ in all its relations'-— ot in what language Ihall' 
«* the flory of that hfe be told, where every action wai 
** abo'uf all praife ?^' Again—** the god-like Walhing- 
** ton" — "this immaculate man." This language is 

* really impious, and what kind of credit can be given 

* to^the fa^s ilated by a man who fo far forgets himfeLf 



f a« to ufe it ? Our objedions^ however, afe pfrincipally 
« .confined to the ufe of thefe unjoftifiable terms. . The 

* orator has. not imitated fome of his countrymen, whoj 

* on a fimilar occafion, dared to ftigmatize ih'u country 
« and its fcvereignj his other fins are not fo much fuit 

* of commiflion as fins of «* omijfion ;" he has only 
? fliewn one fide, arid that the fair fide of the pi6^urej 

* though indeed, by calling his hero immaculate^ he de» 

* nies that there were any fpots in his chaia<5ter. Pre-* 

* fumptious and fooUfh man, to hold up ^ f « monjler of 
^ perfeSiorC to the world, and to call On its inhabitants td 

* admire and worfhip it !" 

Thus far has this impertinent reviewer attempted jrl 
his fecond paragraph, and thus we reply : 

In every country, a church is ^he mofl proper place! 
for delivering a funeral difcourft. \ appeal to all the 
world, if this reviewer doth no^ here exprefs a felf-evi-' 
proof of malice propenfe ? buoyecl up^, as he was, by 3 
vain e:^pe^ation of fupport fronfi a party (heaven b& 
praifed, there is no party no^ exifting in any country 
or climate who does not renounce and d«fpi{b him) of 
earning bread by the mcft difhonourable of all mean-r 
nefTes-T-the fales of fcandal— he ftill ventures farther, and 
with diabolical effrontery, infinuates, that the temple of 
Truth had been polluted by the drains of adulation and 
flattery ; and boldly afks, what kind of credit is to be- 
given to the orator who delivered the eulogium ? 

This is indiredly telling the gentlemau that be fpoke 
falfehoods within the walls of tlie temple of Truth; 
for, all the little attempts that follow that aflertion, by 
tfway of qualifying it, will never alter the exprefs mean- 
ing of the writer. If he had- not been at the diilance 



'-'^■' JLETXER5 TO 

of more than three Ihoufand miles from the orator, it i5 
Iiighly probable that gentleman would have obliged^ him 
Jo modify the words, by argumentum ad rem-, at leaft, I 
believe lo, in cafe he would delcend to notice the calum- 
niator. 

But, this creature (he-vs, in almcft every inflance, a 
complete ignorance of men and things in America:, 
for here,hie fays, ** The orator has not imitated fome 
of his countrymen, who dared to ftigmatixe this country 
(England) and its fovereign." Here an abfolute lie is 
broached. If he means that the orator was an Ameri- 
can, he is entirely wrong : that gentleman v/as a native 
of Great Britain, and, it is prefumed, had no occafion 
to be propped up by the faint apologies oi any foreign 
emiflary, for fuch is the meaning of the paJT; ge, ** his 
other fins are not fo much thp fm§ of commifiion as fins 
of omiffion." 

As TQ the bullying words, *^ dared to ftigmatize this 
country and its fovereign," fuch language might have 
paffed in the eamp at Saratoga, before the capitu'atlon 
of the brilliant nil niji bonum genera! ; but, at this day, 
4 threat like this, can only ferve to excite rjfibilty in 
every man's countenance, whofc mufcles have not loft 
ihe power of fmiling. 

Thp oratpr held up the fair fide of the pidurc, be- 
caufe there was no foul fide to be fliewn. Yet, an in- 
famous fcavenger of literature fhall attempt to twift this 
piiSture into a monfler of perfetiion. 

The third divifion of the reviewer's iniquitous publi- 
cation is as follows: — •< We are well aware that, by at■^ 

* tempting to diminiih the refpeO: which has been fo Ja- ^ 

* vifjily bcftowed on the memory of Wafhington, vfe 



♦ LEXA^Ue'r HAMILTON-. ^• 

« Ihall give lerious offence- to many excellent and wor- 
•thy men. But, we afe irccuftomed to make facrifi- 

* ces to truthy and we do not feel difpofed in the prefcrit 
'inftance, to yield to the tide of popular prejudice; and 

* Hirink from the difcharge of a public dirty. Let the' 
•Americans, if . they think proper,' lavifli their cofn- 

* mendationsQo, their hero, for eflablifliing their bleffed 

* republic — with that we have nothing to do ; but, for 

* ouffelves, feeKng asEngl.fhmen, aq4 as loyal ful^eas^ 

* "vue never can contemplate the publiig character of 

* Wafhington, without feeing, as its prominent feature,. 

* the hprrid crime of rebellion, which nothing but re- 

* fentance can ever efface. It is not fqCcefs which di- 

* minifhes the guilt of a criminal. To America, then, 

* Wafliington might be a A^ro ; to Britain he was a 

* TRA ITOR. Nor. is this the only proteft we have to. 
' enter againft the spot !efs fur ity of this " immaculate," 

* this *« God-like" man. If we have not been very 
•much milinformed, general Washington was a 

* deifi. We have not forgotten his reception of tlie 

* flag fcnt him by Robesp ierre, noi" his declaration, 

* at thi fame time, that he *' approved of the French 

* revolution in its commencement y its pragtefs and its re^' 

* fult." As to his difintereftednefs, of which fo much 

* has been faid, form.erly by Thomas Paine, arid lately 
' by other fycophants in America ; who have carried 

* their impudence fo far as to aflert that he never even 
' accepted a Jalary ; we have it in our power to accufe 

* thofe gentlemen of advancing willful falfehoods. Ge- 

* neral Wafhington not only took care to receive hisjfala- 

* ry regiilaily, (for which cert.ninly no. blame could at- 

* tach to him) but even tcticiied a great portion of the 



4a tirttki to 

* falgry of the cnfuing yeat» by which means he im6 
« an opportunity of fpeculatting with the public mo- 

< ney. This fact; we know, was the i"ubje6t of pub- 

< lie controverfy in America, and the proofs of its ex- 
« iftence were never intalidated !' 

*« Angels and minifters of grace defend us" — from 
Sfuch a bare-faced villain as this — He calls Wafhington 
aDEisTjandai Speculator with the public mo-' 
ney ? — Where ) O where ! wert thou then, Camil- 
lus, Phocius, Publius, General, Royal-Fed ? — Where 
\t'ert thou Seriotis Conlideration — Trumpeter — Voice 
of Warning ? — All afleep. Walhington was in the 
cold tomb — h^d he been living, your ten thoufand, 
pens would have leapt out of ten thoufand wings in', 
liis defence — but he was dead, and you could no. 
longer expeft promotions from him. — Ye all began 
to worfhip the rifing-sun, John Adams, of M'honi 
you expe61ed to make a very tool for your own pur- 
Tiofes. 

. The honot and pleafufe of confuting the vit- 
lain, devolves to me, and I wrote fomcthing fimilat 
to this, which I fent to London nearly two years agoi 
where it had fome efFeft in raifing up the refentment 
of the citizens at the time Gobbet's houfe was de- 
j&iolifhed'. 

I NOW affert — that Wafhin'gtOh Wjis jf pure chfiftiaii^' 
and it is well known to every perfon who" ever knew 
him, that he was a liberal i'efpe6tcr of every religion, 
without being a perfecutor.- I ne:^t affirm that he 
never fpeculated with the public money to the a- 
aftount of a Tingle cent? ot a thoiifand, w a jnillion of 



Alexander Hamilton." ^t 

lentSj dollars ©r pounds. I laftly declare that the 
charge made by the Britidi brute, of his hating 
touched his falary in advance, is as abominable a lie* 
as if arty wretch were to aflert that there is no God. 
The only foundation which Cobbett had for the ma- 
licious falfehdod, proceeded from a very ill-judged 
paragraph in the Aurora* whiift that paper was con- 
dudied by B. F. Bachie? who was unfortunately influ- 
enced by his father, who had a private pique againfl: 
Wafliiiigtori, to publifli it. Every one knov^'s that 
there is a Jaw exifting which allows the Prefident of 
the United States to receive a falary of twenty-flve 
tlioufand dollars per annum. The Prefident's private 
fecretary was in the habit of taking up this falary, ei- 
ther monthly or quatterly, and he was regular in the 
duties of his office. It happened however that there 
was a trifling informality in the report of the Secre- 
tary of the treafury, Wolcott, who ought to particu- 
larize the iteins of the appropriations for the year. — 
He conceived that the law for paying the Prefident's 
falary was fufficient, and he forgot to mention it iit 
his report to the committee of ways and means. — 
Thus, although the law exifted for paying the Prefi- 
dent's falary, there was not any fpecific appropriation. 
Some imp of darkncfs communicated this to old 
Bachej who influenced his fon, the prdprietor o^ the 
Aurora, to give it publicity, and to make it appear 
that Gen. Wafnington was receiving pay in advance; 
The Britifh villain inconfiderately grabbed at the mif- 
take, it)d has dared to publifh it to the world in the 
i^bovia paragraph in the Anti-Jacobin Review; 



43 L E T T E R S T O 

The truth muft now clearly appear to every iTian 
of common intelle^r, that neitl\er'Gcn. Wafiiington, 
nor bis fecretai'y, knew any thing about Wolcott's 
blunder; the fecretary went on in his ufual mode — 
the law was his authority — but with regard to tlie tak- 
ing up a finErle lixDcncc in advance — there can be no 
greater falichoo 1 uttered. Gen. Wafliington was ne- 
ver in want of money fc-r himfelf, neitjier did he ever 
take up any from the public colters but for the beft 
?.nd nobleft purpofes. To follow the flanderer any 
farther, would be fuperiluous — and I really believe, 
that although our fanctined gentlemen in America 
fufFered Cobbet to print that anti-jacobin review, 
and fubfcribcd for it, the cidzens of London, when 
they fee this ftatement, will not hefitate to pull down 
the fellovv^'s houfe again about his ears. 

But, It is too much the pra61ice with partial po- 
liticians to read thofe kind of fcurrilous pamphlets. 
— They fell the better for being deteftable, and fo it 
was with Woofl, Cal lender, Pliilacnus, and all tlie 
reft of the gang of detra^lcrs, who have played into 
eaeli other's hands too long, to the great difgraceof the 
printing art, as well as the annoyance of the pub- 
lic. To follow Cobbet through the whole of the re- 
■vicw, would be too tedious for fonie of oiir readers ; 
I will, therefore, fele61 fuch paragraphs as fcem to be 
particularly levelled at the character and memory of 
general Washington. His feventh phillippic 
proceeds thus : 

«< VVhilit the congrefs was employed in pafling their 
« mournful refolutions, and their funeral admonitions 
• to the pious 'mhabitants c>f the United Statesf, they 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 43 

< were kugning in their fleeves at the dupes which 
they had made, and the impofitions which they Jiad 
paflfed on the world. The. fae} is, that, notwith- 
ftanding the diffentions which prevail among the 
contending parties of enlightened Itatesmen, in one 
wijh. they are unanimous — to D E c F.i v E foreigners 
and foreign nations. But t!ie attempt is as fruirlcfs 
avS the wiih is diilronourable. in tliis general 
mourning, prefcribed by patriotic hypocrify, and 
enforced by popular authority, it is not an un- 
common thing to fee members with crape 
on their arms? and> at the fame time, to hear 
'them vent maledi^iions ovi the memorv of the 

deceafed ! One other faft, on the aiuhcnticity 

of which they may fully rely? will fafiicc to lliew 
our readers what fort of freedom of thought and 
■action the Americans are allowed to enjoy, and 
what fincerity of foul is concealed under the outer 
trappings of woe. A gentleman having been 
afked why he did not wear crape on Jiis arm, an- 
fwered, thatj he tnanked God; he had loll neitheii 
reladon nor friend. <■<■ What !" exclaimed the que- 
rift, "was not gencr:?.! Walliington your friend r'' 

<■ No," rejoined the o'.her, f' he was no man's friend; 
and it would hjive been a good tiling had he died 
twenty years ago." This blunt dec]?"ation was 
immediately fucceeded by a threat of vengeance 
from the querist ; and it was wiih great diScuIty 
that the gcndeman efcaped the yankee puniflimenr. 

* p{ tar and feather, and that Iiis houfe was refcucd 

^ from deftrudion, by his confcnt to strar a crap($^ 



"-\ 



44 LETTERS TQ 

f and to aflc pardon, ftanding publickly on a table J 

* In relating this fa6t. we muft not be fuppofed to 

< acquiefce in the unqualified alTertion, that general 

* Warrington was the friend of no man ; we are 

< not fufficiently acquainted with the general's pri- 

* vate charader to vouch for the validity of fo feri- 
f ous a charge ; and we are extremely unwilling to be- 

< lievc, that a man who has been fo highly and fa 

* warmly praifedj in different countries? though we 

* know how to appreciate fuch praifcj could really de- 
' ferve an accufatlon> which implies a difpofition we 

. < fhould lliuddcr to contemplate."- 

The circumftance, or fomething fimilar did take 
place in New- York; but the gentleman alluded to>, 
in my opinion, ought not to be much obliged to the 
reviewerj for trumping it up to the world again> after 
it l;ad been nearly buried in oblivion. I will not>.- 
therefore, take, any further notice of it, to hurt 
■the feelings of a perfon for whom I have a high 
jefpc6l, only to make a remark on the reviewer's, 
malicious conclufions. 

In the beginning of the foregoing paragraph, he 
endeavours to caft a general ftain upon all America 
— he ridicules both our civil and, religious focieties^ 
and condemns our laws almoft in toto. Whatever 
Terpccl he may be thought entitled to from the gen- 
tlemen of the bar, on thefe points, they are bcft 
able to judge of theii^felves. One thing muft be. 
allowed to them, and, I believe, much to their ho- 
nor — that tliey have found laws fuflicient to, punifK 
-^mifiarjes and flanderers, who may h&xe been, em- 



ALEXANDER H Al^dltTOKT. 4| 

|yioyed by foreign nations for bad purpofes amongft 
US i and in fome cafes they have obliged the mifcre- 
^nts to fiy from our fhores. 

As to the attack upon our religious orders, it ap- 
pears flrange that fomc qf them have hitherto ne- 
gledled tQ reply to the calumnies of this fame fo- 
reign reviewer. It will be but a poor reafon' in them 
to alledge, that *f he is fuch a fcoundrel, he is not 
worth their notice — i^^ither himfelf nor his vi'ritings.'* 

And, is this all ye will fay, ye reverend friends 
and daily affociates qf your once f^ivovit? and de-^ 
rightful Peter Porcupine ! Why, I could make a 
much better excufe for you myfelf; but I will not 
at prefent draw up the curtain, behind which you 
have, in fo cov/ardty a manner, hid your plotting 
heads. It is only to you, the Skulkers, I allude j 
Slid, God be praifed, ye are but a fmall number, 
compared with the thoufands qf qpen, undefignlng> 
honeft men, qf every church. 

The elegant cqmpari.fqn qf «> mild andfiaU" whe^ 
fpeaking of the proceedings of the epifcopal clergy 
at their convention, held fome time ago, at Philadelr- 
phia, is amongft the number of the (^omfliments paid 
to them, and is thus as elegantly coinpared to re- 
tailers of porter mixing mild with Jlale beer; — and,, 
laftly, tliis mixture of the Clergy with the Lai- 
ty, is fp-id to be like f plowing with the Oa* and 
the Jfs together." See here:,; reverend' gentlertcn^ 
how this old acquaintance of Iq.nfte of ye, makes 
Oxen of you, znd AJfes of the laity ! And have yoir 
l^rnely fubmitted to all this fcurrillity? If yoid- 



40 XEI'TERS TO 

compatriot was here (I mean the compatriots of half 
a dozen, or a/ew more, clergymen, whom I know 
v^ell; but, from pure charity, will here omit perfoni- 
fying), it is highly probable that ye would expofe 
one another, as has been the cafe lately between 
men of mKch higher notoriety in -this country, who 
have commenced a clumfy and awkward war againfl 
each other. Adieu^ ye reverend -few ; cover your 
feces with your gowns, lefttha true and faithfu^l 
chriilians llioukibe further provoked to fliew the hy- 
pocrify of your Jrearts. 

After having takeo the foregoing yiew of the. 
fjandcrs propagated by this 5r?V7/72 f/'v^^trw.^;, (for he is 
more their enemy than he has in his power to be 
mirs) It is time to Jin' Jit him with fome general ob-. 
fervatidns. 

W I TH his private or pcrfdnal ch.ara61:er, whether 
ss a foldicr, a fpy, an impoltor, or an incendiary, 
I have nothing to do; although he has, during-his 
fl:iort refidence in Amenca, been encouraged by fome 
friendly people to Invade and abufe the moft facred 
and domcftic concerns of churchci;? houfes? camps, 
country? male, female, old> and young, without 
mercy or diilinStion. Shame on thofe who fupport- 
cd him; but, fome of them have been ftnce laid low. 
^or the living, as well as the dead, a refpeft to- 
wards their children's future profperity? forbids my 
enumerating their names, aldiough I know them as 
well as I know ti|p litfie conofive fublimate of 
Parsons, who will : hereafter be dcfpifed by theip 
ifrerhren; an.l^ indeed, in Philadelphia they ^re all' 



ALEXANDER ft AlW 1 LTOS^". i^f 

Icnowri) and their views as clearly intelligible ta 
Americans, as the writing o'n the wall was undef- 
ftood by Beltefhazzar's interpreter. 

The whole drift of the performance in queflion> 
it is evident, as I have already faid, is, to vent the 
fpieen of an individual, who -values himfelf on the 
honor of having been born in England, but whofe 
conduct has been a difgrace to the name of a Bri- 
ton ! Who is the Briton that dare flicvv his face in 
any company of honourable men, in any country, 
and utter the words which this itinerant vagabond 
has found means to get publiihed ? Shame on the 
beggarly printer's poverty of foul, who would profti- 
tute his types to fuch a Vile purpofe. He mufl be 
very poor, indeed — ftarving for bread — to fell iuch 
poifon to procure it ; — better he had been fent to 
Botany-Bay, there to live upon the mandrake-plant, 
than bafely thus to procure a fullcnance in London, 
by iffuing forth fuch villainous falfehoods, that there 
is not a child of fix years old froin Japan to Cali- 
fornia, or from BalSn's Bay to New Zealand, but 
would fay, <« you have deceived us, and we cannot 
but defpife you." 

But, in order to fill up the meafarc of his ini- 
«|ulty, he contradi6fs the very accounts publifaed 
all over the world, defcriptive of the mofl fmcere 
and profound forrow which was every where ex- 
prefted on this truly melancholy occafion, and irt 
thofe holy ■ fanclorums wherever the funeral culo- 
giums were delivered; nay, he denies that the peo- 
ple Ihcd te?.rs: Thcfe ?,rc hh words—- 



4^ ' . tfcTtERS f d 

« Now, we have good authority for faying, thai> 
« in Philadelphia, where this prayer was delivered^ 
* not a -wet eye was to be feen on the occahon. 
« The three hymns at the conclufibn of the prayer, 

< are miferable imitations of Sternhold and Hop- 

< kins." 

In anfwcr to this, I rieed only refei* to yourfelf, 
Mr. Hamilton, who I faw, on that day, fhedding 
tears. I muft alfo refer to Mr. JefFerfon, who, like- 
wife, fhed tears plentifully, as did hundreds of other 
gentleinen and ladies who were prefent, and thou- 
fands of fpeclators who crowded the firects to fee 
the proceflion. 

But, the reviewer follows the immortal Hero 
of our Country even into the filent tomb, with all 
the "ftudied rancour, falfehood, and treachery of arf 
imp of hell. And yet, it is reported, that there arrf 
feveral hundred fubfcribers to that book iti this 
country. In America ! forbid it, Patriotifm — for-' 
bid it, Gratitude — forbid it. Virtue. Oh, D,eatb> 
where is tby fting ? — O, Grave, where is thy victo- 
ry ? That thofe fubfcribers may refle6l more' 

wifely, and withdraw their fupport from this fo- 
teign reviler of our country, ourfelves, and our 
laws, ought to be the fincere wifh of every good and 
X'h'Subus citizen. 

Tom Callender4 



Alexander Hamilton. %% 

LETTER V. 



SlR> 
Having, in my hd letter, I prefume, wiped off all 
the fliins that the Britifii critic had attempted to caft 
upon the c'larafiter of general Washington, 1 
fhall next perform the fame office of rcfpc;£t; to the cha- 
raSer of Mr. Jefferson, which has been as wick- 
edly attacked here by another Porcupine, under the 
modeft: fignature of Junius Philaenus, and, as I appre- 
liend. Sir, under your patronage. It will, alfo, be a 
part of my tafk, to fay fomething- in defence of old go- 
vernor Clinton, and lome other gentlemen who have 
been fo bafely traduced in your favorite News-papers.— 
The afFefitionate efteem which general W^ifhington al- 
ways exprefled toward governor Clinton, is well known 
'to ihe world—and even in his laft will, the name of that 
gentleman is mentioned in a particularly refpeclful man- 
ner. This is fufficient to give the lie dirc(f:l to any of 
your fcribblers, who have fiid that governor Clinton was 
inimical to the general — and, I am certain, I may fo- 
lemnly aff-irt the fame in regard to the friendfhip which 
€xifts between Mr. Jefferfon and the governor. 

They have always been true friends, nor can any 
deep-laid plot of fchifra divide them. The pamphleteers 
and paragraph writers cannot be confidered, by men of 
'fenfe and probity, as of the leafl: confequence. The far- 
mers of North America mufl: know that they arc now 
more happy, comfortable and fecure, than they wcr« 
.liilder (he last administration, bccaufe ihey liave not t^ 



.■<;t3 , LETTERS TO 

pay ten dollars per yer.r, or foi-ne luch tax, for riding" 
out in their own chair. — No window-tcx, which was 
contemplafed, will vex their feeling? — ftamps \vi!l not in* 
terrupt the negociaiions between man and man — excifes 
are gone to the dogr — &:c. &rc. Thefe rre arguments 
fo flrong tlvat the moft red-hot Fed, will fciircly hnve 
effrontory fufficient to deny them ; neither will the pilot- 
boat fprcuUtor, or any of the imported citizens of Ame- 
rica, after the war was over, <* and nothing in our mind 
hut joy." That man -was no citizen of the United 
States,, although lie v/as permitted to take a feat in con- 
grefs, and afierwards to partake of the ntafl honorable 
•and lucrative cfficis. He benefitted himfl If by his know,- 
ledge cf what was going on, end what won expected to 
end in favor of the intricate Britifh fyftem of finance, fet 
up by you, a Ist mode de monfieur Fiit^^ but which has 
turned out to be not fo bad as you intended" it-^an' eixer 
hjiing burthen— a- mili-ftone hung around the pecks of 
the people to bring thena into rubjcction, and, then, ia 
cafe that plan f^i'ed, you were to have a (landing army 
t.^ reduce ihem into obedience — Bravo ! Surely it was 
then a eocd time to wreft the power from fuch hands. — 
It would be needlcrs to fay any more of that deep and 
cleadiv policy: The pr.Tent aJmin'ftrrtien have, with a 
mafte'fy hand, ret'ricVid us out of thofe dcfperate ditem- 
mrs into which w.v were likely to be Tank for ever.-^ 
Your p'.l cv'was not only vvrong in theory, but has been 
worfe in practice ; allowing your heart to have had no 
ihare in it. Reduced as ycu a.-e to fuch a fituaiicn iis 

,]i s when you: friends as wtli as youradverfariesin po- 

.li;ics.(for I cariaptfuppofe ycu have any pcrfonal€njfral£^^> 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ^i 

have all agreed upon one conclufion, that you are a 
mistCiken politicbn, with all your great and undeniable 
abilities. Then, when you find this to be the cafe, wiiy 
not permit us to enjoy the benefits of our prefent mild 
(though national! V honorable and fiim) adminiflra- 
tion ? v/hy net allow us to give to it the fame chance 
of experirrient that you required for yours f TnJS 
People are fatisfied with the prefent administration? 
wcX'Jd you and your fatellites permit us to be |u!ppy 
and comfortable. 

CoLEMA Nj whom I know^ not whether he is a white 
or bIack.-w«/7, is not cn^y fuppcfcd to be your princi- 
pal typographer, but it has been clearly aiccrtaincd. 
Gracious Heavens ! How can you s-n a man, patro- 
ijize fuch a fellow ? whofe trade i§ fcandal? ujuife 
bread depends upon the circulation of faUchood ? his 
miscariages of criticism upon every thing he has at- 
tempted are a disgrace to literature. Even on the fub- 
ject: of the theatvcj he, your Coleman^ and an apothe- 
cary, ** whom I remember that hereabotu doth dwell j 
culling of limples, and old cakes of rofcs." 

They have the affurance to iffue forth their, criti- 
cisms on theatricals. I think it neceffary to bring in 
this fubjefl: to fhew, that it is z Junto of the Jame degi-ee 
of the knights of the grey-goofe-wing tliat v. i its 
againfl the prciident, the people, and the theatre. I 
am therefore, juflilicd in bringing in this remark. — 
Two or three ScrlbleruU'es, I reaMy believe, have got 
the freedom of the houfe (theatre) from the ma- 
nager, and they are obliged to repay him in the hum- 
ble coin of publifhing \yhf.tCYer he diclaces. Tiius 



5*5 LETTERS TO 

all the performers lie at the mercy of the manager, 
uhofe only merit lies in the tranflation of a few 
ftupid German plays of which it would take more 
xh^n five -hundred to make one plot, like Shakefpcare's 
H?.mlet. 

The impudence of thefe critics, muft appear evi- 
<lent to every man of tafte who has fecn the world. — 
Thofe « minor critics" have had the alTurance to bla- 
zon forth the merits of fubal tern performers, and thjftn 
throw cold water upon the firft-rate. They have 
evinced this difpofition in their multum in forvo remarks 
upon Mr. Hodgkinfon, to whom they will allow no 
other merit, than, that ** he performed his part with 
propriety." Here is a filent intention of black and 
vindielive malice, let it come from what quarter it 
may. And to which I reply, that Hodgkinfon is the 
bell: general performer I have known. In tlie fame 
ftrain of hireling criticifm — thofe Irving?, and Cole- 
mans, and the poor apothecaries and their apprentices 
liave been itching to attack Mrs. Whitlock, whofe 
po\\ers cannot be found out by any "of this band 
of cri ics. Yet every perfon of genuine tafte muft 
admit that fi^xC is the bell performer that has yet ap- 
peared in America. Let thofe demi-crit!cs dare to fay 
t'lat tliey have ever fcen fuch ailing as her's in Fjii" 
fhan'a P yet they freeze at tlie thought of paying her 
the fmallefl compliment. They undoubtedly are au- 
thorized in thiTi manceuvering by the manager, whofe 
time would be better employed in ordering the re- 
gulation of the undef chara61ers of every play.— 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 5^ 

Garrlck would not permit a meffenger to deliver a 
melTage to himfelf unlefs the performer underjlood the 
fubiect and looked him full in the face. — But) Mr. 
Dunlap, thinks all this under-management unnecefla- 
yy — if fo, how can the firft performers exert their ta- 
lents ? how could Hodgkinfon, in Dionifius, har- 
rangue his foldiers when they flood like a row of palli- 
fadoes at the back of the Itage, and if he had addreJT- 
cd them in that pofition, he muft have turned his 
back upon the audience. — There was no body to tell 
them what to do, but Hodgkinfon himfelf, and I 
heard him whifper fomething to the troops, after 
which they marched in detour fo as to form a front on 
the fide fcenes. I mention thefe things to fliew the 
influence of the managers on thofe writers of criti- 
cilms, and alfo to intimate the power of Mr. Hamilton 
over the writers for Coleman, Bayard and Lang. 

Coleman in humble imitation of the reft of thefa 
bribed critics of Mr. Dunlap, mufl alfo come on, 
limping after thefe, with his fagacious and mofl per- 
fpicuous remarks ; but, if he does not cut a better fi- 
gure in that field of fancy than he has on the poliucal 
theatre, he had better beat a retreat quickly to the 
tune of "The General," — "Strike your tents and 
• march away." 

The abufive language which this man has intro- 
duced into the Evening Poft is more bafe and vile 
than that of Porcupine or Callender—it is even equal 
-to Lang's infolent publication of L***'s molt malig- 
]nant gallj or the Commercial Editor's attem[>ts at 
writing. 



J4 LETTERS TO 

But I can acxount for this laft mentioned gentle- 
man's infolence. He was intended for a lawyer by- 
Papa who was a vendue malter in Philadelphia ; but 
fome how, he was not the kind of wood to make a 
Mercury of; therefore he did not fucceed at the bar. 
His friendsj however, made intereft to get him ap- 
pointed Clerk of the Circuit Court of Pcnnfylvania, 
at the firft meeting of that Court in Philadelphia, 
when Mr. Jay was Chief Juftice of the United States, 
and appeared on the bench in party-colored filken 
Tobesj as flafhy as any Roman Bifhop ever \rore when 
performing the ceremony of high mafs on an Eafter 
holiday. The poft of Clerk was not lucrative 
enough to make a permanent living for our Editor — 
there was fcarccly any bufinefs to be tranfac^ed in the 
court at that time? as there was no Alien or Sedition 
laws exifting under \Vafhington*s adminiftration. — 
Thofe difgraceful a£ts were left for his fuccefibr to 
manufacture. 

The poft therefore conferred on our Editor v/as 
]po more than a feather in his cap, which would never 
fupport a family, and as he was nqw entered on the 
lift of office-huntei-s, he made application for ano- 
ther poft, which, through the intereft of his connccT 
tipns) he obtained. — He was appointed to go to Lon- 
don to affift in fettling the dlfputed claims of the Ame- 
ricans with the Englilli merchants for marine fpolia- 
tions ; towards which he contributed very little.—- 
The credit of that fettlemcnt is due to our Ambaffa- 
dor, Rufus King, who very judlciouUy finiflicd the 
^york by a ftngtc dafli of his peii; by boldly lumjin^ 



ALEXANDER HAMILTONT j^V 

ilic whole Intricacy of the various claims into one 
conlolidated Turns which is ^o well knov/n to the pub"- 
lic as to render it unneceHaiy to fay any thing further 
on the fubjecSl, at prefent ; only to remark, that our 
Editor's office was confer} uentiy rendered null and 
void ; and, as he could not live in London upon the 
air, without a falary, he very prirdently returned to his 
native foil, very much chagrined againft our admint- 
ftration:> for nat cantinuing aim in pay after the office 
was aboli filed. 

This accounts in one ineafure for his refentmert't 
againft Mr. JefFerfon ev^r lince. There is anoth<?r 
rcafon which alfo, probably operates on his gall— 
The repeal of the judiciary extravaganza^ whereby 
Judge BafTet loft his birth, who is father-in-law to a 
near relation of our editor, and who has alfO loft his 
eleclion in Deleware, by the confent of the loce 
■pofuli. 

Thefe are faSs, to wliich our editor has not fuffic?- 
ent philofophy to fubmit, altho' they are the comnionr 
refult of natural caufes. He therefore, has fet up a 
barking and yelping in conjunition with the reft of 
the whole pack of hounds that have been ftriving to 
hunt down the fair fame of our firft magiftrate ; and 
what makes it ftill the more difguft^ful is, the patron- 
age given to this pack by you, Sir, whofe ftation in 
life ought to prevent your finking into fucii pitiful 
arts, and fcandalous libels. It is from theie provoca- 
tion? that I have thought you, Sir, (Mr. Hamilton) 
the moft proper perfonage to addrci^ thefe letters to j 



5^ LETTERS TO 

and becaufe I defpife your emiflaries too much, t<3 
defcend into a correfpondencc with thctUi wliilft you 
ere fo prominent in my view. 

The pilot-boat expedition of Stnhh, Dner^ and Co. 
are ftill well recolleaed. Whilft your funding 
fyftem was on the carpet ; and Mhen a right calcula- 
tion could be formed on the vote that would be car- 
ried for it in preference to Mr. Mauifon's propofi- 
tions— whilft it was yet pending, thofe fpeculating 
companies took up all the hard money they could 
borrow on their credit, &c. and fcnt it off by a troop 
of brokers and clerks, in pilot-boats and ftages, who 
were difnerfed through Carolina, and fome other 
ftates to purchafe up the poor foldiers' certificates at 
two flilHings and fix-pence for the pound, and per- 
haps for lefs than that poor equivalent. Thofe gen- 
tlemen knew their game, and altho' you had no 
hand in that job, you certainly winked at it. Ano- 
ther plot of a deeper dye was llkewife attempted on 
the members of the United States legiflature, Mhen 
an effort was made to purchafe the votes of fomc 
of them, to vote for a law to grant a charter to a 
company of land-jobbers for the dominion of a large 
tra(51: of country, whereby they would all of them be- 
come a train of petty princes. Their mode of ad- 
drefs was to iffue certain vouchers or tickets, like 
lottery-tickets — payable only to bearer ; fo that even 
fhould thofe tickets be found in pofiTeflion of any of 
them, no name being inferted, the bribed member 
could not be difcovcred. — This plot failed — there 
were a fuificient number in congrcfs to refifl, and 
reJ96i Ui« bafe aUcropt? a$ there ever v, ill be. — TIk 



ALEXANtoEk Hamilton. ^ 

(aggregate wifdorn and virtue of our general Ieg!fllature> 
will always oppofe fuch attempts. 

1 will hc;re take the liberty or recording fome others of 
the fame (lamp. The bank of North America, was fet 
Up with the king of France's dollars, fent here to pay 
the revolutionary army, when they were on the point of 
a mutiny— ^yet Mr. Robt. Morris, with the aflidance of 
his advifers, had the addrefs to fat! sfy the foldiers with 
his own fix months notes without ever allowing the ho* 
Deil fellows to palm a fix-per.ce of the cafli. The money 
was made into a bank, and the foldiers were paid with 
notes, with which they purchafed flioes at ten dollars 
the pair, hats, &c. on the fame reajonable terms, at va- 
rious ftores, fet up by this Robert Morris, an,dh:sa* 
gents, in evfry quarter of the United States; fo that in 
the end the foldiers never touched the money, alihougli 
he made the profit. 

But fee what is the ccnfequence of ill-gotten wealth — ^ 
it is like an Eaft India fortune, never goes to a third 
generation. This farrie Mr. financier-general of the 
United State?, who aSed this charafter towards the peo- 
ple, and who alfo played fome t'argent tricks upon the 
Marquis la Fayette — he — the mighty man Imifalhit as 
many, many more of your acquaintances have done— » 
Giecnleaf — Nicholfon, &:c. — The Eaflern and South- 
ern cognofccnti in fpcculation — yet thefe are the fort of 
inen that want to recover the reins of our government — 
thefe are the men who come in flecks to confult with 
you in New- York upon a plan or plot of operation a- 
gainfl the prefcnt fafe and mild adhiinidration. Let 
them beware how fdr they proceed — let them pnufe, 
"wuh Monjleur le Govcrneiir\ as Foraipiri^ calls hini-^* 

H 



$5 tBTTERS Va 

let your tribes of calumniating editors with all their 
thoufand tongues—let ;our fecrer-working hypocriticaf 
parfons — your ou!-o -office fallen angels— let even the 
Jerfey Jove, and you. Sir, beware how far you carry on 
this trade of iniquity, left the people fliould be roufed 
•with indignation ngainft your Sitanic incantations and 
dcfpctic fyftpms,. and in their honeft zeal pronounce them 
Treasojm '. 

Tom Callender. 

LETTER Vr. 



SiRy 

1 HAVE always confdered it to be an indifpenfiMe 
cuty of the editcrs of news-papers to render to the pub- 
lic who fapport them, a due acco'int of fuch informa- 
tion as may have fi'Uen within the fphere of their know- 
ledge, efpcciaily or circurrllances relative to the well- 
h: e or danger of the ftate. Amongft the multiplicity 
of obje6^s that are daily burfting on their view, and 
whi'ft fo rr.uch notice has been taken of our donreftic 
pamphlets, it feems ftr^nge that thefe editors fhouid o- 
verlook or neg'ect noticing, or anfwering, the infamous 
ilandcrs of both foreign and domertic intruders upon all 
dec!;ncy and civil eovernm.en*^ ; fon.e of whom have 
been, nu fed in the be Tom ■;:f America, and others fof- 
tcred amorgft us, who only w?,itej for an opportunity 
to Rur^ the hai d ths! '■a".''ed the.i fr-^m obfcurty into fi- 
tuationsof profit and honor. Even twcorthiee of our 



ALEXANDER aAMILTON. 59 

coSors of divinity have 'incurred the deteflation of their 
own congregations, who have informed me of this hdc, 
and who were accuflomed to attend iheir difcouifes with 
pure delight ; but who have fmce dclerted them, ia 
confequenct of their having deferted their duty to God, 
by becoming the mean inftruraents of polemical intrigive 
or dark and difnial tyranny, which was tried and v/eigh- 
«d in the fcalesofanfuccefsful ambition. The mercan- 
tile interefl: of this country to whom I Vvilh to pay a 
real refpe^^ will n«w contefs how niach they were mif- 
taV.en by patronizing (feme of them) Porcupine's Ga- 
zette, the eJitor cf which (Ccbbei) lince his return to 
"England has throwrj off the n:alk of Federaiifm, and' 
now exhibits himfelf in native colours — hat he was 
only a fpy whilfl: he was here, that he wiflies to ini'^re 
and deftroy the mutnal in'-ercourfe and commerce be- 
tween that nation and- this, v/Jiich it U our intereil, as 
well as theirs, to jTrefervemcft inviolably. He endea- 
vors to throw us into contempt in the ees cf ti'.e Bri- 
tifh merchants — ':o inj are and woanJ for ever, if he cowid, 
the credit and churacler of America. ' , 

My friends — ye merchants of tlie Un'ted Siate^ — tell 
me, is this not the fact ? — When you read his review 
you mull acknowledge it, and you muft all be of one o- 
pinion, that he has betrayed yon in fuch a ftyle as to 
force from you an ejaculaton — ** he is the blacked of 
traitors," — For the honor of humanity, neverthelefs, I 
cannot fuppofe that the honeft and enlightened mrr- 
cliants of either England or Americ3, or of any oc!:ei- 
country under Heaven, wciild be influenced by tho 
falfehoods and fciirriuty cf the v^rieH: ruffi^in thiit ever 



€o LETTERSTO 

difgraced the freedom of the prefs. Under this impref- 
fion, I would be incHned to think that his attacks upon 
America md tl.c citizens of the United States, ahhougW 
pub!ilhcd in London in a daily ne-^s-paper, will not have 
any injurious efft-c't to tiie udl-eftabliflicd trade between 
tJie two countries. The treacherous attempts of a few 
tiefpicable Engliflinien, to prevent our having a good 
breed of ilieep, by purchaGng and killing them, to,fend 
away as faiced prdvifions-r-to barn a fpianing machine at 
Philadelphia, left we ihould go on with the cotton or 
any other manufadory — all thefe things I defpife, nor' 
do I put it to the charge or account againft the Britilh 
nation. If there beany truth in ihewh^le of thefe 
charges, the fliame ought to reft upcn ihe individuals 
who perpetrated the crime, for I fokmnlv declare that no 
man could make me believe that the gcvernment, or the 
people ci'that country, would or could ever countenance 
fuch an abcminabie proceeding. The Britifti are too 
enlightened a nation to fuffer r. ftigma like this upon their 
charafler. There may be fcm^ envious pcrfons whofe 
fpeculations into futurity v/ill not cr.rry them farther than 
the !en::jtlr' of their nofes ; but there are thoufartds of 
Englifhmen who contemplate America in a very different 
point cf view, and who can clearly perceive the riling 
eonfcfjuencc of the United S;atcs, and our rapid career 
towards a ilation of more fubfime confequence than any 
of ',h,' an'ient or modern nations could ever boaft of.— • 
Kor isr the time fo verv diflant when this great acra will 
lake place. Lcf; than half a century will verify this pre- 
ciidion, and exhibit to the world an American navy e- 
c|ual to that cf any other nation that may then be ia 
cxl^wnee nqi:\uihil«ndin5 the infiducus plots an.d 



Alexander Hamilton. ^% 

fckemcs of eWier internal or eifternal.foes to cramp or 
confufe us. I will 3,l(o hazard another affertion ftill 
ftronger than the laft. That, the United 
States of America will continue to eb 
A Republic. Th® idle conjectures of all the po- 
liticians in the world cannot prevent it. The vifiona- 
ry hopes of Mr. Adams cannot prevent it? nor all the 
powers of Europe in conjunftion. This may appear 
to fome perfons to be too extravagant an idea — but I 
think it is a conclufion that may be fairly deduced 
from found doitrineand jufl: calculation. — France I 
A-MERICAN5 fet the example, in their revolt from 
tjrranny, for you to imitate ; but it has been referved 
for Frenchmen to decide the molt important quef- 
tion that has ever been agitated in the world ! The 
annals of this earth afford no fimilar inllanceof a pe- 
riod fo highly intercfting to humanity. The great 
aod glorious problem has been folved — whether man- 
kind v^-erc born to be the cverlalting dupes and flaves 
of ten or a dozen murdering defpots ; or whether the 
God of Nature created this globe for the ufe of ifs in- 
habitants ? The dccifion has been in favor of the peo- 
^ pie — the difpute was between men and kings : 
France and America have both fucceeded, and al- 
though there may at prcfent be vefted too high a de- 
gree of arbitrary power in die hand-<-!f the ch;ef ma- 
giftrate, I have the ftrong hope and alTurance in my 
own mind that the Republican form of government 
will neverthelefs be preferved there as well as in this 
CO'.;ntry. — France alone by the real equality of its in- 
dividucals as to knowledge and manners is mofl capa- 
ble of perfect freedom ; but it has become failiiona- 



^2 tETTEftS rS 

ble among a certain clafs of men, to depreciate the 
very principles of liberty and equality of ele6tion ; 
becaufe, fome temporary eiFe6^s have taken place in 
France, from the confufion of the timeS; that will 
not bear a vindication. Let thofe gentlemen, howe- 
ver, confider and enquire, « whether thefc efFesSls, as 
far as they arc unfortunate, are not derived from ihe 
treachery of thofe who expended die revenue allowed 
them by the vew fyflem, in endeavoring to reftore 
the OLD one ?" And if thefe effects are found to have 
been (o procured, what fliould refult from tlie difco- 
very but a cofifirmed abhorrence of the old fyftem 
and of that political creed, which invites men to 
crimes by rendering them facred." 

The fame argument will apply to this country 
under tlie laft adminiftration, as it does likewife to 
your ideas of forms of government v^hich you had 
the boldnefs to prc^ofe m the convention of 1787. 
TJje plan you propofed was happily rejected, and 
the conftitution which was adopted has been fo wife- 
ly and prudently amended) that it now gives complete 
fecurity to the people in general, and I am. fure 
it will be carried on with fatisfaction by the prefeiit 
adminiftration, in defpite of all the impotent attacks 
of yourfelf and the weak oppofition of your coadju- 
tors, who will not allow that all mankind are com- 
petent to judge of t!ie beft form of government for 
their general happi nefs — your doctvinc i<, that a few 
kingly animals ave more competent, who have been 
and ever will be (fo long as the earth is burthened 
with them) educated by fervile flatterers, importers 
an-i flaves. it is a ;ncla:icholy truths Uiat in this cq- 



ALEXANDTR HAMlttOUi 6% 

lightened age, there fhould ftill be found, even ia 
America, men who will advocate an hereditary chief 
magiPracy. *' The experience of paft ages," fay they> 
*< iullines us in this cohclufion — that although repub- 
lican forms oF government are the moft natural and 
approved fyftems, y?t the inclination of parties feem 
to bend fo quickly tovard monarchy, we had 
better come to it at once, in order to prevent trou- 
blefome altercations and political difqiiifitions.'* 
Thus — would thefe FRIENDS of republicanifm fur- 
render the divine and natural ri£;hts of man, rather 
than ftruggle againfl the artful encroachments of falfe 
and ungodly dov^rine. But the prefent government 
of the United States is republican and will remain fo> 
I hope, forever — and will' always furnifh a fufiicient 
confutation of this midaken axiom; and always put 
a flop to the ambitious views of men who wanted to 
cry " havoc" and let loofe the « dogs of war !" 

This hankering a^ter a ftanding army, muft pro- 
ceed from fome evil fpirit that hath taken poflTeffioa 
of fome of our citizens, and ought to be kept un- 
der — accordingly we have fet it do'.rn for a Lhoufand 
years, as is mentioned in the book of the revelations 
of St. John, chapter xx. <«■ And I faw an angel 
come down from Heaven, having the key of the 
bottomlefs pit, and a great c^ain in his hand. — And 
he laid hold on the dragon, (War,) that old ferpent, 
which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thou- 
fand years— And caft him into the bottomlefs pit, and 
(hut him up, and fet a feal upon him, that he fhould 
deceive the nations no more, till the thoufand years 
Aoukl be fulfilled," &c. 



C^ R5 TO, dfC. 

Having thus goi ^ ar of y6u^ and your intfigUeK. 
as it is " devoutly to be wiflied," for a tlioufaria 
years, we expert that our government and admini- 
ftration will go on with the fame degree of chara6ler» 
iftical firmnefs, and prudence that it commenced 
with. — The yells of Difcontents will be fet down 
to the account of their own folly .^AVith regard to 
inyfelf, I never held any place or penfion under the 
government ; nor do I believe I ever fliall ; nor do 
I cxpeft to receive any more emolument for publifli- 
ing thefe letters than you did when you made a pre- 
fent (to Mr. Lang) of the Copy-right of your letter 
addi-effed to poor John Adamsi I am as independ- 
ent as you are in mind and body. The individual, 
or colleclive interest of the Clintonians, Hamiltoni- 
ans, or Jefferfonians, could never operate on my 
mind fo long as a lingle fecond of time. — Our go- 
vernment is now fafe, and the adminiftration of it 
fecure ; nor fliail any of our internal* or external 

enemies dare to overturn it. 

TOM CALLENDER.. 



FINIS. 
{copy right secured. I 



lilll 



011 897 495 5 % 



